Key tasks: Create and maintain your product catalog
Important
This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.
Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
A catalog maintenance request (CMR) file is an XML file that contains information about the products that you want to supply to your customer. You upload CMR files to the customer by using the vendor self-service portal.
To create and maintain CMR files that your customer can import, complete the following tasks:
Create a new catalog to store the CMR files that you create and send to your customer.
Generate the catalog file template.
Determine whether the CMR file will include product data only, product data and the path to the product images, or the path to the product images only.
Determine whether the CMR file represents a new catalog or an update to an existing catalog. You can also delete catalogs that are no longer valid, or delete selected products from your catalogs.
Create a CMR file by using a schema-aware XML editor.
Note
These tasks are performed on the Vendor catalogs page. Before you can access this page, your customer must configure your company for catalog import in Microsoft Dynamics AX.
What do you want to do?
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Create a new catalog
Generate a catalog file template
Create a CMR file
Delete a catalog
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About creating and maintaining your product catalogs
Create a new catalog
Create a catalog to store the CMR files that you submit to your customer. For example, you can create one catalog to store the CMR files for products that you offer in the fall, and another catalog for products that you offer in the spring. You can also upload a new CMR file when you create your catalog. For more information about how to upload a CMR file, see Upload a catalog maintenance request.
Click Catalogs on the Quick Launch.
On the Action Pane, on the Catalogs tab, in the New group, click Catalog.
On the New catalog page, enter a name and description for the catalog.
Click Save and close to save the catalog.
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Generate a catalog file template
Before you create the catalog maintenance request (CMR) file for the products in your catalog, you must generate the customer's most current catalog file template. You use the template to create your CMR files.
You can generate a CMR template that includes the procurement categories in which you are authorized to provide products. When you add your products to the file, you map them to the appropriate procurement categories. Alternatively, you can generate a catalog template that includes industry-standard commodity codes. Your customer can use the commodity codes to map your products to the appropriate procurement categories.
Click Catalogs on the Quick Launch.
Generate the most current catalog file template from your customer. On the Catalogs page, select one of the following options:
Procurement category – The CMR file template will contain all of the procurement categories in which your customer has authorized you to supply products.
Commodity code – You will provide the commodity codes for each of your products when you create the XML file. The commodity codes are used to map your products to the procurement categories in which your customer has authorized you to supply products.
You must include either a procurement category or a commodity code for each item or service that you include in your CMR file.
Note
When you upload your CMR file, the XML file that you create is validated against the most current XSD schema that your customer provided. If the format of your CMR file does not match the requirements of the schema, the upload fails, and your CMR file is rejected.
In the Save As dialog box, select the location where you want to store the catalog file template and save the file.
Note
You must have both read access and write access to the folder that you save the catalog file template to.
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Create a CMR file
Create an XML catalog maintenance request (CMR) file by using a schema-aware XML editor, based on the catalog template that you downloaded from your customer. You can use the CMR file that you create to create a new catalog, replace an existing catalog, or modify an existing catalog.
Create a CMR file for a new catalog if you are sending the catalog to the customer for the first time, or if you are fully replacing an existing catalog. If you are replacing an existing catalog, all items and services that are in that catalog are overwritten by the matching items and services in the new CMR file. Any existing items and services that are not in the new CMR file are deleted. Any items and services that are included in the new CMR file, but that are not included in the existing catalog, are treated as new products and added to the catalog.
Create a CMR file to update an existing catalog if you only want to make some modifications to the catalog, such as add products or update your pricing. The CMR file can contain only the products or product details that you want to modify. You can modify a product's price, description, product attributes, or requirements for purchase quantities. You can also add new products, add or modify product images, or delete existing products.
After you create the CMR file, you can upload it to your customer in the vendor self-service portal. For more information about how to upload a CMR file to your customer, see Upload a catalog maintenance request.
Create a CMR file for a new catalog
Generate the most current catalog file template from your customer.
Create a CMR file by using a schema-aware XML editor, and set the "Action type" attribute of the <Vendor catalog> element to New. You can create a CMR file that contains only product data, product data and product images, or only product images. The details that you include in the CMR file can include product details, product pricing, product attributes, detailed product descriptions, data about related products, and product images.
To include product images in the CMR file, enter the location of the image file for the product, and associate it with the product by using the Image element in the CMR file.
Save the CMR file, and validate it against the catalog file template.
Create a CMR file to update an existing catalog
Generate the most current catalog file template from your customer.
Create a CMR file by using a schema-aware XML editor, and set the "Action type" attribute of the <Vendor catalog> element to Update. Add the details for the products that you want to add, delete, or modify.
To delete a selected product from an existing catalog, add the product to the CMR file, and set the "Delete" attribute of the <Product> element to Yes.
Save the CMR file, and validate it against the catalog file template.
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Delete a catalog
You can delete catalogs that contain products that you no longer offer to your customer. Alternatively, you can delete only selected products from an existing catalog. When you delete a catalog, it remains in the catalog list. CMR files cannot be added to a catalog that has been deleted. Additionally, products that are contained in a catalog that has been deleted are no longer available for order.
Click Catalogs on the Quick Launch.
On the Vendor catalogs page, select the catalog file that you want to delete, or that you want to delete products from.
To delete the whole catalog, on the Action Pane, on the Catalogs tab, in the Maintain group, click Delete. In the Vendor catalog message dialog box, click Yes.
–or–
To delete selected products from the catalog, create a CMR file for the catalog. Then, for each product that you want to delete, set the "Delete" attribute of the <Product> element to Yes.
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